If you can cook, you can make beer. DIY brews are cheaper in the long run than store-bought suds—and give you the pride of creation. Here's how To get a diy brewery hopping.

How to Brew Beer: Getting Started

How to Brew Beer: Getting Started

Beer is more popular now than at any time since Prohibition. While a record 1595 breweries operate nationwide, home brewing is also on the rise. The experts at Dogfish Head, Tröegs, Sierra Nevada and New Belgium (to name a few) offer countless variations on the age-old libation, but making even a single batch in your basement or garage will satisfy your thirst and your DIY soul. Here's all you need to know to follow in the footsteps of Adolphus Busch, Frederick Miller and D.G. Yuengling, regardless of your budget.

Setup

Setup

Serious about making large batches of beer? Splurge for a propane-powered rig with a three-tiered brew stand. This setup, by Indiana-based Blichmann Engineering, costs about $2000 and features a trio of 20- to 30-gallon pots and gas burners that put out 216,000 Btu per hour. (The high heat quickly boils large amounts of liquid, shaving hours off the brewing process.) More casual or budget brewers can make do with one big pot, heated on a common kitchen stove.

Sanitize

Yeast and sugar are beer's building blocks—but they're dinner for flavor-spoiling bacteria. So begin by disinfecting all equipment before every batch. Clean the components with hot water and liquid soap and finish the job with a no-rinse sanitizer, such as Star San.

TIP: Use a large container (a wallpaper tray will do) filled with sanitizer to douse hard-to-wash items, such as tubing.